Having just had a very relaxing weeks holiday doing not much, i’ve come to the depressing realisation of how much easier it is to manage my pain and symptoms when I can actually listen to my body, sleep in when I’ve had a bad night and stop and rest when the pain gets bad.
Being back at work has made me realise how bad dragging myself through 40 hours a week in pain and exhausted really is for my physical and mental health. I don’t really know how i’m supposed to keep going in the long term, as I feel constantly burned out and miserable, but we’re short staffed so I can’t take any time off to try and catch up.
I take every painkiller I have and cling to a hot water bottle, but what I really need is just more sleep, and i’m already going to bed at 8:30/9 most nights just to manage as it is. I’ve brought up working from home but my boss is being annoyingly non-committal, anyone have any tips for working full time and managing pain and tiredeness?
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Hazelnut345
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Hi I no longer work full time as I couldn’t cope just like you, it was making me so ill. Your company has to make reasonable adjustments for you, your boss can’t just be non committal.
Have you been sent to occupational health?
I went back to hairdressing and working for myself, it’s tough as if I don’t work I don’t get paid and have to carry on even when in pain. Do you have any other skills to enable you to work elsewhere?
I’ve brought up working from home a few times, but every time I try to actually get something implemented he’s all “oh i’ll talk to the other manager about it” and nothing gets done it’s very frustrating!
I’m hoping I might be able to start working for myself eventually but probably not until next year at least so a good few months to get through.
I can completely relate! The doctors keep telling me to take time off but I just can’t afford it so I have just dropped to 4 days a week at work (taking Wednesday off) I’m already feeling the benefits and really recommend it. You have to look after number 1, you only have one body at the end of the day. Ask your boss if they will at least trial it, my work have noticed how much harder working I am on my days at work now I have a bit more energy. They might realise it is more beneficial for them too!
Do you have a confirmed diagnosis of endo? If so you could ask your work for a occupational health review. An independent Dr comes in and asks about your condition how it effects work and what you think can help you manage it around work. They can also determine if they think its considered a disability or not, if they do then there is more onus on your company to really look into the options you would like such as working from home. As if they don't it can be disability discrimination, but that doesn't mean they have to give you what you want just that the company actually has to look into it and see if it's feasible.
I'm not sure about if everyone has access to occupational health but might be worth asking the question after your op. They'll either say yes or no. If not check with you gp and see if they can do anything to aid in this.
My work were actually really great with helping me manage my symptoms. My main issue was that on the really bad days I was taking tramadol and morphine so couldn’t drive into work. I explained rather than losing time and putting pressure on my team as well as myself when I came back to a backed up workload it made sense for me to work from home. As once I took my pain relief and got comfy with a hot water bottle I was able to perform my job (although I was on a lot of pain meds my body was so use to taking them so I didn’t get the side effects so was able to work normally) it took a lot of pressure of me, and ultimately benefited the company as I wasn’t losing time. So next time you have a chat with your boss, try and sell the benefits that they will get to make them understand that you working from home is a positive. Good luck!
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